Story+1988-04-13+Houston,+TX

´´Seems like the weather´s finally getting real nice....you get this weather up north, it´s like everything changes....girls leave all their winter clothes home....everybody starts walking places instead of driving....you know, it gets....spring starts coming around, people start coming out....that´s when I like to....I like to take a little walk in the park, you know...see if any of my friends are still around....hey, hey man, yo (chuckles) how you doing ? alright.... good to see you....oh, you look good, you still carrying that thing around with you, huh ?.... what´ve you been up to ?....yeah, haven´t, haven´t seen you in a while, you know....what do you got ? yeah ? oh, we´ve got the baby pictures now....see, there´s a little Big Man running around out there....he´s three years old, right ? three ?....he´s almost as big as me already (chuckles)...he´s got a little saxophone....he´s got shades, a little suit....he´s got the girls chasing him around all the time (chuckles)....Clarence, man....I ain´t gonna, forget it, I ain´t gonna say nothing about that (chuckles) he looks good (chuckles)....we used to sit on this bench, like in 1974 or 75....we used to, like there was this big office building down on the corner and every day around 4.30 all the girls would get out of work and they´d come walking right down this street....so we used to come down here....you know, remember when we used (?) we had two albums out, right, we used to bring ´em down with us and sit ´em like on the bench, hoping somebody would notice ´em....bring down a couple of beers in little paper bags....and we´d just sit here waiting for the girls to come out, to come out from work....they used to come out like right about this time....here they come, here they come now, man....check this one, uh, the one, the one in the red dress.....red, red dress, that´s nice ....(chuckles) alright, can´t do that, oh man.....they look younger, though....I don´t look older, do I ? you don´t look older at all....I was with Clarence the night he met his wife....he come running in my room, knocking on the door, ´Bruce, Bruce....I´m in love´ ....(a girl from the crowd comes up to Bruce and brings him flowers) sweetie, I can´t do that now, I´m doing, you know, I´m doing, I´m doing, uh....she does have a red dress on....thank you.....it was the red dress, that´s what, that´s what did it....anyway, where was I ? you met your wife, met your wife, right....he met his wife, he come running in my room, ´Bruce, I´m gonna get married´, but he used to say that all the time, all the time, but that time you did....like, you know how it feels the first time she comes walking in the room and they´re looking good, you know, and you´re trying to, you know, trying to get sharp....back in New Jersey, this is the kind of music that starts playing in your head, come on Ritchie, do it man !....oh yeah, that´s nice....gonna take my flower and....gotta go home, I gotta be home in time for dinner, you know....then I gotta go to bed, remember we used to stay up till 4 a.m ? I go to bed at 11.30 now, yeah, I get in bed but she lets me watch ´The Honeymooners´ till 12, then I gotta turn out the lights....”
 * 13.04.88 Houston, Texas, intro to ´All That Heaven Will Allow´**

´´How you doing out there tonight, huh ? (cheers)....how´re you guys in the back ? (cheers) ....once there was, uh, there was this fella and there was this girl and uh....they met in a little bar and they fell in love....then he kind of did all the things that, uh....that she liked....he was kind of a sweet-tempered guy....and they made plans and....they were gonna get married.... then something happened....and he left....but he didn´t really leave her...´cause even though he was gone, she, she held on to him in her mind and in her heart....and she seemed to never put him away....and old dreams like that come back and keep breaking your heart over and over and over again....unless you learn how to put the past....down and behind you....this is a song about a woman struggling to understand the value of her own individual existence.... and the value of the life of her child....it seems like no matter where we go or what we become, the value of our own lives slips away from us.....and uh....when I wrote this song.... I wanted to write about a woman....putting her old dreams away and finding something new and beautiful and meaningful in her own life.....”
 * 13.04.88 Houston, Texas, intro to ´Spare Parts´**

´´Here´s a song dedicated to, uh....window shopping....I went, uh, down to the mall to buy one of those little beatboxes before I came (?)....a woman come up to me....´You wanna buy that thing ?´...then she looked at me and she said ´Ain´t you, uh....ain´t you that rock and roll singer ?´...then she looked at me again and said ´You wanna buy that thing, son ?´...she said ´Oh, I like, uh´, she says ´You know, I like, uh, like your videos, you know, one with the.... you know that one where you dance with the girl ? (?)...did you, did you pay her, did you pay her or was she really, was she really in the audience ?´....then she says ´You wanna buy that thing ?´....I said ´Lady, I wanna bust this fucking thing right now....”
 * 13.04.88 Houston, Texas, intro to ´You Can Look´**

´´Is there anybody in Texas alive out there ? (cheers)....is there anybody with the living, breathing spirit in them tonight out there ? (cheers)....that´s good....because I´m ready to do some testifying, testifying....what I wanna know is....are there any courageous, brave Texas men out there tonight ? (cheers)....are there any macho Texas men out there tonight ? (cheers)...because I´ve known men who´ve climbed mountains....and wrestled with them armadillos....they´ve, they´ve wrestled with the beasts of the jungle....but there was one thing they was afraid of.... and do you know what that one thing was ?....I´m gonna tell you....that one thing was L....U...V... I´m talking about love, love scared ´em, made ´em run home to their mommies....now, are there any heroic, courageous Texas women out there tonight ? (cheers)....are there any macho women out there tonight ? (cheers)....I´m talking to you .... that´s good because, girls, I´m talking to you too.....now, I´ve known women....that would canoe down the Amazon River wrestling alligators....that would date the horn section in this band, that would jump out of an airplane at 30,000 feet but there was one thing they was afraid of....and that one thing was love, love scared ´em ....now I´m down here tonight because I´ve got a confession I´ve got to make....I can´t carry this around with me any longer .....I want to confess to you....I want to confess to you.....that I have sinned !....and I don´t need no Pat Robertson, I don´t need no Jim Baker, I don´t need no Jimmy Swaggert to pray for me....those boys can kiss my ass....and that Jerry Falwell, he can kiss my ass three times .....I don´t care who you bring down here, bring down Hulk Hogan, I´ll take him on, bring down the Road Warriors....I ain´t afraid of those kinds of things....but what I wanna say is.... that I´m a coward when it comes to love....”
 * 13.04.88 Houston, Texas, intro to ´I´m a Coward´**

´´They had this TV-movie on a couple of weeks ago....it was with, uh, Kirk Douglas and.... Jason Robards....it was where they put this guy on trial for, uh....teaching, uh....evolution....it went, kind of went like this....”
 * 13.04.88 Houston, TX, intro to ´ Part Man Part Monkey´**

´´Oh, thanks....we were sitting home, I was trying to decide....whether we were gonna tour this year or not....and uh....glad we did, we missed you....and I was thinking of the songs I wanted to do and the songs I didn´t wanna do....I knew I wanted to come out and sing a lot of new songs, that´s my job....and uh....I guess this song is an old song, I wrote it about 15 years ago....and over the past couple of years from time to time I´d sit in my bedroom, I´d pick my guitar up and I´d play it like this....and when I wrote it, I was 24 and....had a lot of big ideas (chuckles)....and uh....I guess when I wrote this song, I asked myself a bunch of questions that I´m still trying to answer to this day...it seems like the last 15 years of my life has been spent trying to find those answers....or just shed a little light, a little more light on the questions, maybe (chuckles)....but when I wrote this song I thought I was writing about a guy and a girl who wanted to run and keep on running....and as I got older and as I sang this song through the years, I realised that they weren´t just out there running....and that even if you get out of town, you get away, that individual freedom on its own is sort of meaningless without some connection to other people or to your family or a community of some sort..... and I realised that guy and girl were out there searching, searching for, I guess, something that they could call ´home´....and as I got older, I realised that home wasn´t out there but it was buried deep inside of me somewhere ....and if I was lucky, someday I might find it and if I was even luckier, I might be able to hold on to it....but....anyway, this song´s kept me good company on my search, I hope it´s been a good friend to yours on your search....I´d like to do this for you tonight.....dedicate it to you and wish you, uh....wish that everything you want, you may have....”
 * 13.04.88 Houston, TX, intro to ´Born to Run´**

´´Big Man, have you ever been lonely, baby ?....so, so lonely....so lonely you wanna cry, cry, cry, cry now....that´s when you gotta reach out for a little help....to somebody that can remind you that you´re a....member of the human race....that´s when I wanna say....I just wanna say....I need a partner now....hey, baby....´´
 * 13.04.88 Houston, TX, end of ´Dancing in the Dark´**

´´On the piano, Professor Roy Bittan....on the drums, the Mighty Max....on the guitar and vocals, Miss Patti Scialfa....on the guitar, Mr.The Great Nils Lofgren.....on the bass, Mr.Garry W.Tallent....on the organ, Phantom Dan Federici....all the way in the back we got Eddie ´Kingfish´, Richie La Bamba, Mark ´The Love Man´, Mike, Mario Cruz, the Tunnel of Love horns....and last but not least....what can I say about this man ?....a close personal friend of mine.....the handsomest man in the Western hemisphere....Clarence ´Big Man´ Clemons on the saxophone....´´
 * 13.04.88 Houston, TX, middle of ´Light of Day´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//